Alfa's new junior hatch
11/08/09 10:46 Filed in: Road
tests
When I was in the thick of my hot
hatch era, one of my friends had an Alfasud. They were great cars
to drive, with more than a touch of Italian style and flair, but
they were a little lacking in the durability department.
The new Alfa Romeo Mito is Alfa’s first real foray back into the small hatchback class since the late lamented Alfasud. It brings the same mix of style and flair to a market populated by some fairly bland hatches.
Just as there was a geographical element to the Alfasud name (it meant Alfa-South to signify the factory location in the south of Italy), so it is with the Mito. Formed through a collision between Milan and Torino, it signifies the locations of Mito’s design and manufacturing.
Just looking at it you can see that the Mito is aimed at the market currently occupied by the MIni with its cutesy, chic looks. So, have they succeeded?
I found my own Mini enthusiast, Mrs Driveblog – who has owned two Minis in recent years and still pines for them.
Mrs D likes the looks in general terms, but she feels the headlights are almost OTT in their attempt to look appealing. She describes them as looking like “cartoon puppy dog eyes”.
Inside the only serious gripe was the leathercloth that bridges the gap between the dashboard and the adjustable steering column. Many other cars use a similar solution, but somehow on the MIto it grated with the former Mini owner.
Where I do agree with Mrs D is that, while we both liked the DNA (dynamic, normal and all-weather) switch, its location is not handy, set ahead of the gearlever low on the centre console. It also needs to be held in position to make the switch. Perhaps both of these features are designed to stop drivers like us tinkering with the settings constantly!
With the DNA switch in dynamic, my Mini enthusiast really enjoyed the peppiness of the Mito.
The test car was the Alfa Romeo Mito 1.4 TB Veloce, which is the top of the range petrol model in terms of performance and equipment. It was finished in Guilietta Red, surely the colour for any Italian car with performance heritage and aspirations!
I like the way that the Mito is unmistakably an Alfa Romeo, with its classic grille shape and the number plate offset to one side. Inside the sporting image of the Veloce is enhanced by dashboard and door trim that looks like carbon-fibre. Again, I think the design team have hit the spot with an interior that is distinctive, very stylish but works well.
The driving position is pretty good, but only just. I like the way you can set the seat reasonably low (I much prefer sitting in a car to sitting on it!). The only fly in the ointment is that the steering wheel doesn’t come quite as low as I would like to match and with this straighter-leg driving position, legroom is only just adequate.
Surprisingly, perhaps, I did fit in the back although getting in an out is not a graceful procedure for big people. Little people will be just fine. The boot is good and deep, but there is a slightly high sill to lift bags over.
On this model the 1.4-litre engine has a turbocharger which boosts the power output to 150 bhp. That DNA switch gives you extra sportiness at the flick of a switch, re-mapping the throttle settings, adjusting the dampers, the traction control and the boost pressure from the turbo. The result really is a car that you can change to your particular mood.
With the sporty dynamic setting, the Mito feels really eager and every bit as quick as the 0-62 time of eight seconds suggests. Not bad for a 1.4-litre.
The Mito has that point-and-squirt style that you expect of a hot hatchback. But the process is perhaps slightly less involving than you might wish. Even on short rides into town, I noticed that the rear wheels can get a little jittery on poorer surfaces.
With a small capacity engine you can expect good economy if you switch back to ‘normal’ and go canny on the accelerator.The combined consumption figure of the Mito is 43.5 mpg. With rather harder driving in dynamic, I found that mid 30s were still quite feasible.
The Alfa Romeo Mito 1.4 TB Veloce costs £14,745. In price, power and performance terms that slots this Mito somewhere between the Mini Cooper and the Mini Cooper S, which is probably quite a good place to be.
The new Alfa Romeo Mito is Alfa’s first real foray back into the small hatchback class since the late lamented Alfasud. It brings the same mix of style and flair to a market populated by some fairly bland hatches.
Just as there was a geographical element to the Alfasud name (it meant Alfa-South to signify the factory location in the south of Italy), so it is with the Mito. Formed through a collision between Milan and Torino, it signifies the locations of Mito’s design and manufacturing.
Just looking at it you can see that the Mito is aimed at the market currently occupied by the MIni with its cutesy, chic looks. So, have they succeeded?
I found my own Mini enthusiast, Mrs Driveblog – who has owned two Minis in recent years and still pines for them.
Mrs D likes the looks in general terms, but she feels the headlights are almost OTT in their attempt to look appealing. She describes them as looking like “cartoon puppy dog eyes”.
Inside the only serious gripe was the leathercloth that bridges the gap between the dashboard and the adjustable steering column. Many other cars use a similar solution, but somehow on the MIto it grated with the former Mini owner.
Where I do agree with Mrs D is that, while we both liked the DNA (dynamic, normal and all-weather) switch, its location is not handy, set ahead of the gearlever low on the centre console. It also needs to be held in position to make the switch. Perhaps both of these features are designed to stop drivers like us tinkering with the settings constantly!
With the DNA switch in dynamic, my Mini enthusiast really enjoyed the peppiness of the Mito.
The test car was the Alfa Romeo Mito 1.4 TB Veloce, which is the top of the range petrol model in terms of performance and equipment. It was finished in Guilietta Red, surely the colour for any Italian car with performance heritage and aspirations!
I like the way that the Mito is unmistakably an Alfa Romeo, with its classic grille shape and the number plate offset to one side. Inside the sporting image of the Veloce is enhanced by dashboard and door trim that looks like carbon-fibre. Again, I think the design team have hit the spot with an interior that is distinctive, very stylish but works well.
The driving position is pretty good, but only just. I like the way you can set the seat reasonably low (I much prefer sitting in a car to sitting on it!). The only fly in the ointment is that the steering wheel doesn’t come quite as low as I would like to match and with this straighter-leg driving position, legroom is only just adequate.
Surprisingly, perhaps, I did fit in the back although getting in an out is not a graceful procedure for big people. Little people will be just fine. The boot is good and deep, but there is a slightly high sill to lift bags over.
On this model the 1.4-litre engine has a turbocharger which boosts the power output to 150 bhp. That DNA switch gives you extra sportiness at the flick of a switch, re-mapping the throttle settings, adjusting the dampers, the traction control and the boost pressure from the turbo. The result really is a car that you can change to your particular mood.
With the sporty dynamic setting, the Mito feels really eager and every bit as quick as the 0-62 time of eight seconds suggests. Not bad for a 1.4-litre.
The Mito has that point-and-squirt style that you expect of a hot hatchback. But the process is perhaps slightly less involving than you might wish. Even on short rides into town, I noticed that the rear wheels can get a little jittery on poorer surfaces.
With a small capacity engine you can expect good economy if you switch back to ‘normal’ and go canny on the accelerator.The combined consumption figure of the Mito is 43.5 mpg. With rather harder driving in dynamic, I found that mid 30s were still quite feasible.
The Alfa Romeo Mito 1.4 TB Veloce costs £14,745. In price, power and performance terms that slots this Mito somewhere between the Mini Cooper and the Mini Cooper S, which is probably quite a good place to be.